SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 06-24-04
My Worship Time Focus: The Advocate and
the One who makes propitiation
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: 1John 2:1-2
Message of the verse: “1 ¶
My little children, I am writing these things to you that you may not
sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous; 2 and He Himself is the
propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the
whole world.” (NAS) “1 ¶ I
WRITE these things to you, my children, to help you to avoid sin. But if a man
should sin, remember that our advocate before the Father is Jesus Christ and he
is just, 2 the one who made personal
atonement for our sins (and for those of the rest of the world as well).” (Philips)
John continues the theme of sin into
this next chapter. He uses two words in
these first two verses, which describe two of the works that the Lord Jesus
Christ does, or has done in the past. The words are Advocate, and propitiation,
and they are significant words for the believer, and unbeliever too. The word Advocate can mean a defense
attorney, one who walks along side you when you are in court. The Holy Spirit is One who walks along side
the believer. Jesus Christ is Advocate
to those who have accepted Him as Saviour and Lord, and He represents us in
God’s court in heaven when Satan decides to accuse us of doing wrong.
The word propitiation carries with
it the meaning of being satisfied with God’s holy Law. God loves the world, yet He is Holy and thus
cannot look away from sin, so His solution was the sending of His Son, Jesus
Christ into the world to pay the debt of sin.
God is satisfied with Christ’s sacrifice of sin and thus He can justify
the believer on the basis of Christ’s death.
The OT word for propitiation is mercy seat, and the mercy seat was on
top of the ark of the covenant. There
were two angels upon the top of the mercy seat and one represented God’s
justice, and the other His love. The
blood of the sacrifice was placed upon the mercy seat once a year to cover the
sins of the nation of Israel. God’s
justice was satisfied as He looked at the blood of an innocent sacrifice, and
thus God’s love could forgive. Now it is
worth noting that in this second verse John writes that this propitiation was
for the whole world, and it surely was as can be seen in John 3:16, for it is
offered to the whole world, yet as explained it certainly has application to
the believer.
Spiritual meaning for my life
today: I need to remember at all times
that forgiveness is free to me, but it was so very costly for God the Father,
and for God the Son. When I sin it is
good to remember that that is what caused the death of the perfect Son of God,
on my behalf.
The Word
of God was convicting to my soul today as I read it this morning.
My Steps of Faith Today: Trust the Lord to be in the courthouse at Barrie ON this
morning working out His perfect will for the lives of the investors, and also
for Andrew Lech. I pray that the Lord
will continue to impress upon my heart the cost of forgiveness.
Memory verses for the
week of 6:20-04: 1Cor. 13:4-6
Love is
patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not
arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked,
does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in
unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
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